Artifacts reflect arts on fingertips, intangible cultural heritage and Chinese craftsmen’s persistence in their original aspiration. An ordinary artifact indicates perseverance and its simple shape implies Chinese aesthetics. The profound Beijing culture breeds outstanding traditional arts and craftsmen who devote themselves to handicrafts. It is their persistence that carries forward those precious handicrafts on the verge of extinction in Beijing!
Beijing Lord Rabbit
The painted clay sculpture “Lord Rabbit” is a mascot of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing. It is very influential and known to every household in Beijing. It was found that Lord Rabbit appeared no later than the Yuan Dynasty. Due to the special custom, it is unlikely to keep Lord Rabbit of last year. The oldest extant painted clay sculpture of Lord Rabbit is preserved in the Palace Museum, named “Fu Gui Hua Kai (a flower that symbolizes wealth)”.
At the Mid-Autumn Festival, every family enjoys the glorious full moon, a symbol of the family reunion. Amid ample harvest, it is a festival with the grand celebration as famous as that of the Spring Festival, decorated with Lord Rabbits. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, stalls selling Lord Rabbits appear on the street. Lord Rabbits of various sizes form a small hill. It is really colorful to put Lord Rabbits together with fruits such as pink-and-white peaches, light yellow pears, vermilion grapes, dark green persimmons and watermelons cut into the shape of lotus petals. Just as an old saying of Beijing goes: what a lively scene! As the joyous Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, Lord Rabbit hills are in every corner of the city.
The painted clay sculpture of Lord Rabbit has a long history. In ancient China, the backward medical conditions made the people believe in Lord Rabbit.
Lord Rabbit’s artisanal techniques and expression are exaggerated and pithy. The artifact is particular about symmetry and balance. In particular, it is delicately decorated with color decoration, so great attainments of color decoration are required. There has always been a saying about making Lord Rabbit, “Only 30% of its beauty is determined by sculpture, while 70% is determined by color decoration”. With striking contrast of colors, it is simple, unsophisticated and bright. It is totally handmade. The conventional techniques include rubbing, kneading, lifting, molding, imprinting, patting, cutting, coloring, attaching and inserting. Lord Rabbit is made of clay. The processes include drying, cooling, tamping, kneading and drenching. And it used colors of traditional Chinese painting, poster paint and mineral colors.
Lord Rabbit is a unique and important symbol of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing. As an indispensable part of the festival, it is also a custom of the festival lasting for hundreds of years
Some knowledge about the Lord Rabbit:
1. Lord Rabbit’s gender: The ancient ethics specify that it is improper for men and women to touch each other’s hand in passing objects, so Chang’e (the goddess of the moon) shouldn’t hold a male rabbit in her arms. In the past, men didn’t worship Lord Rabbit. In view of the above points, Lord Rabbit is female.
2. Now that Lord Rabbit is female, why people call it Lord Rabbit rather than Lady Rabbit? Traditionally and universally, respected females were honored with male titles. And Lord Rabbit is unmarried and has no children. In old Beijing, nephews called their unmarried elderly aunts as dads. Therefore, the influential mascot is officially called Lord Rabbit.
3. How many flags are behind Lord Rabbit’s back? Lord Rabbit has only one flag behind its back. There is a two-part allegorical saying in old Beijing: Lord Rabbit’s flag—one on one.
4. The source of the flag: According to the legend, Lord Rabbit was found under a flagpole outside a temple gate. When craftsmen create Lord Rabbit, they put a flag behind it so that the later generations know its origin story.
5. Lord Rabbit’s mount
Generally, Lord Rabbit rides an auspicious beast in folk traditions. But Lord Rabbit is not allowed to sit on a Chinese dragon because of the old etiquette. The legendary auspicious creatures include lions, elephants, kylins (Chinese unicorns Qilin), tigers and deer. And auspicious plants include gourds, peaches, lotus flowers and peonies.
The legend of Lord Rabbit’s mount
Mount No.1: the kylin. The kylin represents stable wealth, makes careers prosperous and exorcizes evil spirits. It brings good luck to a family and alleviates disasters. Kylin is a symbol of auspiciousness.
Mount No. 2: the lion. The Lion implies everything comes off satisfactorily.
Mount No. 3: the peach. The Peach implies longevity.
Mount No. 4: the gourd. The gourd implies fortune and prosperity.
Mount No. 5: the elephant. The elephant implies a new and dynamic atmosphere.
Mount No. 6: the deer. The deer implies lots of salaries.
Mount No. 7: the lotus. The lotus flower implies purity, elegance, peace and detachment. Real peace is not in the body, but in the mind.
Mount No. 8: the hill. The Lord Rabbit sitting on a hill is the most typical form of all, and all the Lord Rabbits are evolved from it. It is the supreme Lord Rabbit.
Mount No. 9: the tiger. The tiger implies a mythical creature that eliminates evil spirits and wards off disaster.
Mount No. 10: peony. The peony implies fortunes and honor.
Visit Site: Beijing Shuang Qixiang Painted Clay Sculpture Studio
Tel.: 18612520169
Transportation: Take Line 13 to any exits, Longzeyuan Station. Taking No.58 Chang bus across the road to Hengqiao Village East Station. Going west for 300m, and looking north to find Beijing Ping’an Shengda Automobile Maintenance Co., Ltd. The visit site is near that company.
Address: No.133, Baige Road, Changping District, Beijing
Sheng Xi Fu Fur Hat Making
Sheng Xi Fu is a time-honored brand established in 1911 in Tianjin. In the 1930s, Sheng Xi Fu opened its branch in Beijing. Liu Xisan, the founder of Sheng Xi Fu, continuously employed senior craftsmen in the industry, absorbing excellent hat-making craftsmanship at home and abroad. Eventually, the unique craftsmanship of Sheng Xi Fu fur hat making was formed.
The process flow of Sheng Xi Fu fur hats is complex. Making a fur hat usually involves dozens of processes, each of which needs to be flawless. Raw materials need to be of the best quality. The direction, length, thickness, density, color and softness of the fur should show no difference. In the process of cutting, there are many ways, including straight cutting, top cutting, slant cutting, herringbone cutting, arc cutting, crescent cutting, ladder cutting and fish scale cutting. Following no set form, the process is flexible. The process of sewing requires a round crown and equally distributed stitches. The process of sewing fur requires aligning seams and laying fur flat, which forms a cross. And many processes are incredibly delicate, including drawing, turning and stringing.
The Sheng Xi Fu fur hat is elegant and in good taste. With exquisite craftsmanship, the hat is very soft and comfortable to wear. In the period of the Republic of China, Sheng Xi Fu fur hat was trendy. “Wearing Sheng Xi Fu fur hat” was a symbol of life of high quality. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Sheng Xi Fu fur hats are favored by consumers at home and abroad. Craftsmen of Sheng Xi Fu often make hats for China’s leaders. Besides, Sheng Xi Fu fur hats have also been selected as a gift for international friends.
Visit Site: Sheng Xi Fu (Wangfujing)
Tel.: 010-65254752
Address: The office room of North Garden Hotel, No.218-1, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Craftsmanship of Beijing Hardwood Furniture
Ming-style furniture is the most famous in China’s furniture. As the model of traditional furniture, Ming-style furniture not only has brilliant achievements in the history of ancient Chinese furniture, but also plays an important role in the history of world furniture. Ming-style furniture spread to countries such as Britain and France after the Kangxi period in the Qing Dynasty, having a significant influence on European furniture in the 18th century.
Based on the tradition of furniture making in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Ming-style furniture innovates in materials, craftsmanship, style design and structures. Some furniture in the Qing Dynasty kept the style and craftsmanship of Ming-style furniture, so it was also called “Ming-style furniture”. Major sources of Ming-style furniture in China are Suzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou. They carry forward the splendid tradition of Ming-style furniture, forming Suzhou style, Beijing style and Guangzhou style, respectively. Ming-style furniture uses hardwood with close texture, such as padauk, Dalbergia odorifera, rosewood, ebony, Mesua ferrea and chicken-wing wood. It takes full advantage of their texture and gloss, striving to build with simple structure and elegant shape without complicated decoration and make it suit various uses and human bodies. In particular, all Ming-style furniture has a frame structure with mortise and tenon joints instead of nails and glue. This structure is sophisticated, firm and solid, enjoys worldwide praise from the furniture fraternity. The furniture’s metal accessories made of cupronickel, red copper and gilding, such as wrap angles, hinges and foot covers, are exquisite and have soft colors, matching the furniture.
Ming-style furniture has many different kinds, mainly including sitting furniture, bearing furniture, lying furniture, storage furniture, supporting furniture and screens. Sitting furniture includes chairs and stools and bearing furniture includes tables and desks. Beds and couches are under the category of the lying furniture. Storage furniture includes boxes, cases, cabinets and cupboards, and supporting furniture refers to items such as washbasin stands, mirror stands and clothes racks. As for the screens, table screens and folding screens are included.
Ming-style furniture is the art treasure of the furniture industry in our country and even in the world. It is instructive to research Ming-style furniture in terms of the history of Chinese and foreign furniture, the history of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, the history of social life and folklore. But now, as a result of the shortage of hardwood, aging craftsmen and inexpert young craftsmen, there are some problems in Ming-style furniture making. What’s worse, forged and fake mahogany furniture runs rampant in the market, which hinders the making of authentic Ming-style furniture. It is urgent to quickly train sophisticated successors to carry forward and develop this valuable traditional craftsmanship.
The craftsmanship of Beijing hardwood furniture is gradually formed in furniture making for palaces in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It originates in Beijing and has a history of three or four hundred years. Beijing hardwood furniture, Suzhou hardwood furniture and Guangzhou hardwood furniture are called the three major schools of Chinese hardwood furniture.
Beijing hardwood furniture fits the dry climate of northern China. It focuses on the display effect of furnishings, thick shape and bulky structure. As a result, it forms an elegant, gorgeous and luxurious Beijing furniture style. The craftsmanship of Beijing hardwood furniture has peaked during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, and then spread among the ordinary people after the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and Emperor Daoguang. Thanks to the salvation, protection and supporting policies of the state after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the craftsmanship of Beijing hardwood furniture has achieved a degree of recovery and development.
The craftsmanship of Beijing hardwood furniture combines practicality and artistry and integrates techniques such as designing, carpentry, carving and waxing. Hence, precious hardwood possesses ingenious mortise and tenon joints, classic shapes and impressive carving, forming a gorgeous and elegant artistic style. Beijing hardwood furniture perfectly blends court art and folk art, having great artistic and academic value.
Visit Site: Long Shun Cheng
Tel.: 010-67265621
Transportation: Taking Line 14 (East) to Exit SE, Yongdingmenwai Station
Address: No.64, Yongdingmenwai Avenue, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Beijing Inner-Painted Snuff Bottle
Unique national craftsmanship of inner-painted snuff bottles appeared after the introduction of snuff bottles into China. The craftsmanship mainly spreads in Beijing, Hebei Province, Shandong Province and Shantou (Guangdong Province), forming “Beijing school”, “Hebei school”, “Shandong school” and “Guangdong school”. After entering Beijing, snuff bottles were used by nobles, ministers and Manchu people in high places. Besides the imperial manufacturing office, folks also make a large number of snuff bottles. From about 1890 to 1945, the development of inner-painted snuff bottles reached its peak. At that time, Zhou Leyuan, Ding Erzhong, Ma Shaoxuan and Ye Zhongsan were four masters of inner painting. They created the first Beijing inner-painted snuff bottles.
In 1954, Ye Xi (Xiaofeng) and Ye Qi, descendants of Ye Zhongsan, were employed by Beijing Arts and Crafts Research Institute to teach Ye Shuying. In 1958, they accepted Wang Xisan (Wang Ruicheng) as their apprentice, and later Liu Shouben and other apprentices were accepted. Around 1970, the brothers passed away. Wang Xisan founded “Hebei inner painting”, and Liu Shouben became a leading figure in modern “Beijing inner painting”. Beijing inner-painted snuff bottle has been handed down to four generations.
Beijing inner-painted snuff bottle witnessed the development of China’s tobacco industry. As a kind of special craftsmanship, the inner painting of snuff bottles not only includes the traditional folk crafts such as carving, inlaying and filigree, but also combines Chinese and western painting techniques, becoming the epitome of craftsmanship at that time. The drawings of Beijing inner-painted snuff bottles are mainly about China’s history and culture, so it is worth appreciating and researching.
Visit Site: Baigongfang Handicrafts Museum
Tel.: 010-67111381
Transportation: Taking Line 5 to Exit NE, Tiantandongmen Station
Address: No.12, B, Guangming Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Bow and Arrow Making of Ju Yuan Hao
Ju Yuan Hao was the imperial arsenal of the Qing Dynasty, and its bow shop was located in the “bow and arrow courtyard” near Dongsi Street, Beijing. In 1957, after it was reformed, Ju Yuan Hao moved to Beijing No.1 Sports Goods Factory and became an institution under the jurisdiction of Chaoyang District, located near the current China World Towers. In 1998, Yang Wentong, the successor of the ninth generation of Ju Yuan Hao, opened a shop in Tuanjie Lake Community, Chaoyang District, resuming the old trade.
Carrying forward the strength of Chinese Scythian bow, the craftsmanship of Ju Yuan Hao features bamboo-made inside part of the main body, with the outer layer stuck with ox horns and internal layer with ox tendons, and wooden ends. The bow making consists of the making of the main body and decoration. The bowstring is normally made with cattle hide or cotton thread, and Ju Yuan Hao mostly uses the latter. The arrow making includes rod adjustment, peeling, rod shaving, and arrowhead, tail feather installing and other procedures.
Yang’s bow-making family of Ju Yuan Hao won an award at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition many years ago. Because of his love of the traditional bow and arrow making and his consciousness of cultural inheritance, Yang Fuxi resolutely gave up his old job and followed his father Yang Wentong to learn the craftsmanship. He inherited all craftsmanship of Ju Yuan Hao. The materials, tools and techniques used by Ju Yuan Hao are similar to those recorded in Kao Gong Ji (The Artificer’s Records), Dream Pool Essays and The Exploitation of the Works of Nature. Ju Yuan Hao’s bows and arrows have excellent quality and are widely praised. In addition, Ju Yuan Hao was invited to Hong Kong to participate in the Asian archery exchanges and was reported by CCTV and other media.
Visit Site: Ju Yuan Hao
Tel.: 13661035311
Transportation: Taking Line 10 to Exit SE, Panjiayuan Station
Address: No.B102, Line B, Panjiayuan Antique Market, No.18, Huaweili, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Craftsmanship of Beijing Kites
Based on the designs and verses recorded in Nan Yao Bei Yuan Kao Gong Zhi (The Observation and Study of Southern and Northern Kites), the craftsmanship of Cao’s Kites is passed on to this day in Beijing. The Observation and Study of Southern and Northern Kites summarized 43 kinds of techniques and summarized the process as binding, pasting, painting and flying. Through kites, the book not only reflects China’s profound culture, but also uses aesthetic imagery, personification and patterning to reflect its great traditional cultural value.
Cao’s Kites are made of bamboo, paper and silk, etc., after binding, pasting, painting and other processes. The making of Cao’s Kites requires high-quality materials, delicate processes, vibrant colors and elegant shapes. Based on bionics, bird-like kites of Cao’s Kites use a unique technique to reduce weight and are quite true to life. With so many types, Cao’s Kites boast novel styles. The themes of Cao’s Kites include historical allusions, legends, folk customs and bionics, showing distinctive cultural characteristics of Beijing, an ancient capital.
Visit Site: Daoxianghu Intangible Cultural Heritage Science Museum
Tel.: 010-62523780
Transportation: Taking Line 16 to Exit SW, Daoxianghu Station
Address: No.28, Daoxianghu Road, Sujiatuo Town, Haidian District, Beijing
Craftsmanship of Wangmazi Scissors
In the eighth year of Emperor Shunzhi’s reign (1651), Wang, a craftsman from Shanxi Province, sold scissors in Beijing. His business was booming. He was called Wang Mazi because he had mazi (literally meaning pockmarks) on his face, and later Wangmazi Scissors became famous. In the twenty-third year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1758), Di Jing Sui Shi Ji Sheng (local customs and practices in Beijing) recorded Wangmazi Scissors, which proved that this handmade product had become a famous brand at that time.
In the twenty-first year of Emperor Jiaqing’s reign (1816), Jutai Shop in No.135, Xuanwai Avenue, Beijing, hung up the shop sign of “Wangmazi of the third generation”. Afterward, Beijing workshops engaging in knives and scissors with the brand of Wangmazi continuously developed. By 1936 there were 70 workshops, and by 1956 there were 68 shops with 400 employees. In 1999, Beijing Lichang Wangmazi Industry & Trade Co., Ltd. was established.
Wangmazi Scissors have unique craftsmanship of forging, including 13 processes in the furnace and 13 processes out of the furnace. With exquisite craftsmanship of forging, Wangmazi Scissors have unique skills, one of which is to dip materials in fire with “drugs”. The finished product has a thick and plain appearance, with typical northern characteristics, unique structure, powerful snipping and multiple uses. The cutting edge is made of wrought iron with steel, which is very sharp, handy and durable. And it is easy to make and easy to repair.
The craftsmanship of Wangmazi Scissors is representative of traditional forging techniques and is of high value in technology. Its corresponding products are still necessary tools in people’s production and life, meeting the needs of various professional fields. The craftsmanship of Wangmazi Scissors is handed on in an unlimited pattern, not only between master and apprentice, but also between relatives and fellow-villagers. For example, Guo Hengyao founded “Tian He Xing” in Fenjiang Hutong and he accepted Duan Chunsheng, his brother-in-law, as an apprentice, which was a typical example of family succession.
Visit Site: Wang Ma Zi (Qianmen)
Tel.: 010-83197995
Transportation: Taking Line 7 to Exit NW, Zhushikou Station
Address: No.5, Dashilan Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
